Turkish lira weakens after central bank chief is fired

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Turkish lira has dropped by around 2% against the dollar after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired the central bank governor reportedly over disagreements on interest rate cuts.

Murat Cetinkaya was replaced by Murat Uysal, the central bank’s deputy governor, in a presidential decree published Saturday. No reason was given for the dismissal.

The lira weakened to 5.73 against the dollar Monday.

Erdogan had frequently criticized the central bank for keeping rates high. Hurriyet newspaper said the governor had rejected calls by the president to lower the benchmark interest rate, which currently is at 24%.

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Uysal, the new governor, said the central bank would continue to “independently implement monetary policy instruments” for price stability.